Ocean Ecosystem

The open ocean has the greatest volume and vertical range of any life zone. Variations in light, temperature, water chemistry, nutrient continet, and pressure allow diversity of environments that are filled with a large number of species.

Ocean Food Chain

In the ocean ecosystem the food chain begins with the largest predatory mammals and fish and will continue down through the strata of life forms to the smallest poly and coral life.

Ocean Energy Pyramid

The energy pyramid is the energy distribution at each topic level as it passes from producers through the consumers. Some energy is lost as it passes to the next level because a. consumers don't usually consume the entire organismb. energy is used to capture foodc. organisms used energy during their metabolismd. energy is lost as heatGenerally only 10% will pass on to the next level. (The shorter the better..)

Producers

Producers normally form the base of a food pyramid. In the ocean, there are three primary producers: photosynthetic plants, chemosynthetic bacteria, and detritus.

photosynthetic plants

Phytoplankton is the official name for the microscopic floating plants that live in the sunlit layer of the ocean. Nearly half of the photosynthesis on our planet is carried out in the oceans by unicellular organisms called phytoplankton.

chemosynthetic bacteria

Naturally-lit mussel bed covered in bacteria.

detritus

Detritus is undissolved material from the decomposition of organic remains (e.g., the decomposition of dead marine organisms, or materials from decaying algae). It often settles on the ocean bottom, where it provides an important food source for scavengers such as brittle stars, sea cucumbers, and amphipods.

Primary Consumers

Primary consumers are the second level in the food chain, feeding off of producers like phytoplankton.

crab

The crab is a primary consumer because it eats seaweed.

clown fish

A clownfish will feed on the leftovers of a fish on the anemone in which it lives.

Secondary Consumers

Secondary consumers are the third level, and they eat primary consumers.

squid

Mollusk with ten arms: a ocean cephalopod mollusk that has two long tentacles and eight shorter arms, a long tapered body, two triangular fins, and an internal shell. It is often cooked and eaten.

barracuda

Predatory sea fish: a predatory sea fish with a long body and protruding jaws and teeth.

Tertiary Consumer

Tertiary consumers are the fourth level, eating secondary consumers.

dolphins

Sea animal related to whales: an intelligent sea mammal cetacean that resembles a large fish and has teeth and a snout similar to a beak. Found almost worldwide, dolphins are related to whales, but are smaller.

Decomposer

A few decomposers of the ocean would be bacteria, fungus, marine worms, sea slugs, sea worms, and brittle stars.

brittle stars

An invertebrate ocean animal similar to a starfish but with thinner, longer, and more flexible arms.

sea slugs

A marine invertebrate animal that resembles a sea snail with no shell and is often brightly colored

Strategies for finding and conserving energy

The Earth’s oceans house an enormous amount of energy—from waves, currents, deposits of petroleum under the seabed and more. In the US, more than one-fourth of the oil and gas produced each year comes from offshore sources. The ocean floor also contains a huge reserve of energy-rich methane gas. Methane gas is usually the product of organic decay, including the decay of sea animal and plant remains. Under the pressure and in the cold temperatures of the ocean floor, the methane gas dissolves

Solar energy is also important to discuss in relation to energy from the ocean, as most of the ocean’s energy comes from the sun. Ocean currents, winds and waves are all created by the sun’s radiant energy, and that solar power can also be used to create electricity. Some solar power systems have been created to generate power for navigation, radio communication and research at sea.

Abiotic Factors

Nonliving, as in abiotic factor, which is a nonliving physical and chemical attribute of a system, for example light, temperature, wind patterns, rocks, soil, pH, pressure, etc. in an environment.There are quite a few abiotic factors the influence the ocean. An abiotic environment includes situations in the environment that have an effect on the surroundings due to non-living situations as opposed to living (Biotic)that being said, this can include sunlight.

sunlight

Ocean Rocks

ocean soil

Symbiotic Relationship

Mutualism is symbiotic relationship in the ocean where two different types of species live together and are beneficial to each other; examples of this type of living arrangement includes tiny fish or shrimps known as cleaners who get into the mouth of the big fish with mutual agreement through change of color and clean inside the mouths and gills without being eaten.

​Bacteria & fungi are decomposers of the oceans. When any plant or an animal dies, its body is attacked by these decomposers, eating in to its material & when they die off, due to lysis, the organic & the inorganic matter in the dead biota gets released in to the water